


Down Country Roads

by AxisMage



Series: Country Boys [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Superboy (Comics), Superman (Comics), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Dixie Grayson - Freeform, F/M, Family Fluff, Farmer Conner, Female Dick Grayson, Genderbending, Rachel Grayson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 12:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16219139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AxisMage/pseuds/AxisMage
Summary: Dixie´s plane to Smallville gets delayed three hours. When she gets there, someone tries to shove her into the men´s bathroom. Her phone shatters, there are no taxis and she has no means of contacting her father. Then it rains, and Dixie kind of knows she´s not having the best of days. That is, until a truck pulls up at her side and offers her a ride. The driver turns out to be handsome farmer Conner Kent, and after the ride, a shower and Martha Kent´s pecan pie, Dixie is not having a bad day anymore.And on Conner´s side? A bubbly laugh and bright blue eyes is all it takes to make it one of the best days of his life





	Down Country Roads

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the continuation to Up City streets, also inspired by Alan Jackson´s [Country Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnX2BoZE9w4) as well, and in Conner´s case, I did manage to slip one or two lyrics into his dialogue lol XD. So, in case you wanna find out more about what the heck is going on here, the other fic is linked somewhere above haha.
> 
> Also, yes, this is a fic with genderbender Dick. I know that isn´t the most common thing in the world, but try and gave Dixie a chance, she´s a sweetheart, I swear
> 
> And finally, thank you sooooo damn much to [Lorelain Michaelis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LorelainMichaelis) for betaing this part as well and keeping me from embarassing myself even more <3

 

“And then Cassie said…”

“I didn´t say that!”

“Yes you did, don’t try to pretend you didn’t!”

“But I didn’t. You were the one who screamed that!”

“What? No, that´s a lie! Don´t listen to her, she´s lying!”

“Bart is the one lying! Little jerk, he´s…!”

Conner shook his head, couldn’t help but smile at the screams that came from his phone. He didn’t think they were doing it because it was raining and they only wanted Conner to make sure he heard what they were saying.

“Tone it down you two. Cassie, Bart will lose his voice, you know that happens rather easy,” he said as he watched the wipers move across the windshield to very little avail. It was pouring out there, the sky was black already, and it wasn´t even seven o’ clock yet. The rain was sure to last all night.

Bart groaned. Cassie giggled, then cleared her throat. “So, how soon are you going to be home? I really need to finish this today.”

“What about Bart?”

“It´s boring, I don´t want to help her,” Bart groaned, then let out a squeak, probably due to Cassie pinching him.

“How long?” she asked again.

“Cass, do you really need to finish your three hundred pieces’ puzzle tonight? And you need my help?” Conner asked somewhat amused.

“Yes,” she said, and Conner could imagine her nodding. “I need your help on this urgent matter. Will you be at the farm soon?”

Conner reached for the passenger seat without taking his eyes off the road. He picked up his phone, the screen lit up, he stared at the numbers indicating how long he´d been talking with his friends first, then looked at the clock in the corner. Sixty forty-two. He dropped his phone back on the passenger seat and returned his attention to the road. “I just drove past the airport. I think I´ll be home in about twenty…”

… What on Earth was that?

Or rather… who?

His voice trailed off as he slowed down his truck and the headlights illuminated what looked like… like a woman dragging a suitcase and a carry-on as she made her way down the dark and empty road under the pouring rain.

“Conner? Are you okay?” Bart asked, but the voice sounded way too distant.

“Talk to you later,” Conner replied, reached for his phone and cut the call before dropping the phone, turning the overhead lights on and speeding up until his window was right to the woman´s side. She was covered in very long and wet hair. For one fleeting second, the word ‘ghost’ popped into Conner´s head, but he squashed the thought down and rolled his window down.

“Excuse me? Ma´am?” he yelled, hoping to be heard.

The figure jumped and whirled right away. Conner got water on the face, and by the time he lowered his hand, a pair of very wide, very surprised and slightly scared pair of blue eyes were staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

Conner´s tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. “Uh…”

“Please don’t mug me, or kidnap me. A guy back at the airport already tried to shove me into the men´s bathroom today. I´m not having the best of days, you see. Please don´t be that mean, sir.”

What?

“What?” he hissed, gave her even wider eyes, tried to compose himself when he saw her flinch.

“Uh, no. Never mind. Do you happen to know if the town is near? I came from Gotham and have no idea where I´m going,” she said, and while she´d managed to talk normally at first, by the end of the second sentence she was stuttering, and Conner could swear he heard her teeth chattering.

He was grabbing his jacket and the umbrella Ma had suggested he take with him from the passenger seat and pulling a couple of feet ahead before he even made the conscious decision to help this woman. He managed to light up the flashlight on his phone before opening the umbrella, then made his way to where she was standing, still staring at him with wide eyes.

“Here, hold this” he said, and handed her the umbrella, waited until she was holding it above both their heads before taking the jacket and placing it on top of her shoulders. He then reached for the suitcase, took back the umbrella.

“Wherever you´re heading, this is not the way,” he informed her. “Downtown is on the other side. You´re heading to the outer farms of Smallville.”

Her face fell right away, and she looked appalled. “No way.”

“I´m afraid it is a yes way, ma´am,” he said. “Where are you going?”

She blinked at him, then reached inside her purse. She pulled out a phone that looked miraculously dry, pressed the button on the side. The screen stayed black.

“Well, shoot,” she said with feeling, looking even more defeated than before. “All the info was on my phone, but I dropped it and it shattered when I was running out of the bathroom and it looks like the battery on this one died. I… I don’t remember the name of the hotel, or where it was.” She looked down, seemed to huddle in on herself instead of the jacket.

Conner frowned, sighed. “Is this suitcase waterproof?”

“What? Oh. Ah. I think so. Alfred gave us the rundown and he said something about it being water resistant.”

“All right.” Conner gave her a nod, then handed her the umbrella again before taking the suitcase and throwing it into the back of the truck. As soon as he did that, he took the carry on with one hand, reached out to grab her hand with his free one. He half-expected her to scream and pull away, but when she didn’t, he made his way to the passenger´s side. He opened the door, took the umbrella. “Hop on in? Let´s get you someplace safe.”

She clung to his hand as he helped her into the truck, released it only when Conner pushed the carryon inside. He shut the door, ran to the other side and threw the umbrella in the back before getting in. He rolled up his window and turned on the heater right away. “I´m taking you to my parents´ farm. We live about twenty minutes down this road. You can charge your phone or use mine after I get you some towels and you have a nice cup of coffee. Is that all right with you?”

The woman nodded, wiped the hair away from her face, and with the bright overhead lights, Conner had a few seconds to admire her delicate and lovely features, her big and bright blue eyes and impossibly long black hair. Conner had heard that sometimes people called wet individuals ‘wet cats’ but she didn’t look like one of those at all.

“Thank you,” she said as soon as Conner nodded back and the truck began moving. “You really didn’t need to do any of this. I… I could have stayed at the airport instead of running off without much thought.”

“Why did you?” Conner asked, then frowned. “You said something about a man pushing you into the men´s bathroom. Are you alright? Did he hurt you? Did you alert the police? We can turn around and if you allow it I can…”

A slender and soft hand landed on his arm, and he turned to look at her for a few seconds, found her eyes a molten deep blue this time, a soft smile on her lips. “Hey, it´s all right. I didn’t call the police, and even though my phone got shattered, I still think kicking him hard down there and slamming his head against the sinks hard enough that I think I saw a couple teeth on the floor wasn’t the worst thing I´ve ever done.”

Conner´s frown deepened. “Did he…?”

“No, thank you for worrying, but it´s okay. He didn’t touch me or kiss me or anything. We were on the same plane, and he got up a few times to try and talk to me. When we got off the plane he insisted on following me. I ignored him, but as soon as he realized I was looking for a guard he grabbed my arm and managed to drag me inside.” Her voice kept getting softer as she spoke, and by the time she finished, she was curled up in her seat, fingers digging into the jacket. “He tried to lock the door. That´s when I managed to break free and kick him as hard as I could, then, you know, the sink, and I ran out to talk to one of the guards before running out of the airport. Not the smartest choice, huh?”

Conner was silent for a couple of seconds, had to bite his lip to keep himself from letting out a string of profanities a lady like her shouldn’t hear.

“I am so sorry,” he said softly. “My deepest apologies that this was the way you were introduced to Smallville.”

She smiled, rubbed her hand up and down his arm before pulling her arm back and huddling in the jacket. “It´s all right, that wasn’t your fault. It was disgusting, but it´s not like you have to apologize for anything. I should be the one apologizing for being such a bother, and a dumb one at that.”

“You´re not a bother,” Conner said, pursing his lips. “It´s pouring out there and you were walking down the road with your luggage. I had to do something. I had to help.”

Her smiled softened, widened, and she placed her hand on top of his for only a couple of seconds. “That´s really sweet of you. What´s your name, my knight in shining… Timberlands?” She let out a giggle, and it was the most musical little sound if Conner had ever heard one. “I´m Rachel, Rachel Grayson. People usually call me Dixie, my friends call me Dix.”

Dixie. Dix. That was a cute name. It sure suited someone as cute as her.

“I´m Conner,” he replied. “Conner Kent. My friends call me… well, Conner. Nice to meet you, Dixie.”

“Nice to meet _you_ , Conner, thank you so much for your help.” She straightened in her seat, then turned sideways so she could look at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her pick up his cowboy hat and put it on her head.

“Do you mind?”

The question genuinely confused Conner. “Should it?”

“Well, my hair is wet and this feels like real leather, and I´m a total stranger and taking your hat…”

Conner shook his head. “I don’t mind at all,” he said.

She gave him one of those wonderful smiles again, then tipped him with the hat. “And what is a young and handsome farm boy like you doing out here this late?”

Conner didn’t know how to take that little compliment, because it was a compliment, right? Was he allowed to give her a compliment back? Did she mean it? … Did he want her to mean it?

“I covered the long route today,” he explained. “We grow a lot of vegetables and grains at the farm and deliver them at several grocery stores across town. We have two routes. The short one usually covers the stores on our way downtown and past the airport. The long route covers the stores all the way across town and back. My brother usually covers the long one but he said he wasn’t feeling up to it today so…” He shrugged, hesitated, then cleared his throat. “What about you? What brings… such a lovely lady to Smallville in the first place?”

He was relieved when she didn’t look offended at the lovely lady comment but instead gave him a mile, this one shyer, smaller.

“That´s… kind of a long story,” she said.

Conner´s eyes flicked to the road, back to her, then the road again. “I think we have more than enough time,” he mumbled.

 

* * *

 

 

The Kent farmhouse looked lovely even from a distance. It looked… much like she had imagined: a big brightly painted house with rocking chairs on the front porch surrounded by maize on all sides and a chimney on top. She couldn’t make out the exact color only by moonlight, but her guess was either yellow or white walls with a dark brown roof. It looked homey and welcoming even from where they were.

“That´s the Kent farm, the main house, my parents and brother´s house,” Conner explained as they passed in front of the house and moved further into the maize fields. “We have a couple barns spread around, and then there´s my little shack.”

Dixie wiped her hair away from her face. “You don’t live with the rest of your family?”

“I do see them every single day and we usually have dinner together, but I´m not… I´m not my brother. I like being alone. I like having a little place just for myself to just come to and do stuff,” Conner admitted with an embarrassed shrug. “It´s pretty close though, just around… oh, see? We´re here already.”

Dixie glanced out the window again, let out a short laugh when she spotted the much smaller and lightly more modern farmhouse, laughed again as Conner parked in the small driveway and ran out of the car to turn the porch lights on. There wasn’t a rocking chair there, but a small table with two benches.

Dixie opened the door, and Conner was there to hold it and hold out his hand. She took it and got off the car, wondering if he always did stuff like that or if she was only getting special, temporary treatment. Conner seemed to do it so automatically she was betting on the former.

The rain had stopped before they passed the Kent farmhouse, so Dixie was able to stare at Conner´s house as he got the suitcase and she got the carry on, then as he took her hand and led her up the porch stairs and inside the house, turning on the lights as he went.

Dixie took a moment to admire the neat yet very obviously lived-in living room. There were books stacked in a corner, puzzles spread on the coffee table, the pillows were not picture perfect, there was a jacket thrown over one of the single couches and even a dog bed…

The barks came as soon as she noticed that, and Conner was kneeling down and talking excitedly at the dog Dixie couldn’t yet see. She inched closer, heard another bark and suddenly there was a white ball of excitement in front of her waving their tail and staring at her curiously.

Dixie laughed and knelt down, which the dog took as a good sign because next thing she knew, there were paws on her legs and a warm and friendly tongue flicking across her nose.

“Dixie, this is Krypto, the legitimate owner of the house. Krypto, say hi to Dixie, she´s our new friend.”

Dixie laughed again, and Krypto waggled his tail, licked her face a few more times before deciding he had approved her enough and went back to Conner.

“You said a shower sounded good?” he asked as he reached down to pat Krypto. She nodded. “Why don’t you go and take your shower? We´ll head to the main house later so you can call whoever you need, and I´d offer you a cup of hot cocoa but Ma would kill me if I didn’t let her do that.”

Dixie grinned. “I can imagine. Alfred does that too, and he´s better at taking care of guests anyway. Are you sure its okay if I take a shower?”

“Of course. I´ll light up the fireplace and we can leave your suitcase and carryon and whatever else you need next to it and hopefully it´ll be dry by the time we come back.”

Dixie nodded again and she was in the bathroom five minutes later after getting clean and dry clothes from her suitcase and towels from Conner´s closet. He headed for the fireplace as soon as she was inside and pulled out his phone, which he´d been ignoring up until this point.

Five missed calls from Cassie, three from Ma, three from Clark. He sighed and hit Clark´s number, left it on speaker phone as he accommodated the firewood.

Clark picked up on the first ring. “Conner? Conner are you okay? Can you hear me? Conner!”

“I´m okay, Clark,” he replied, rolling his eyes.

“What happened? Cassie said you cut off so suddenly, and it took you forever to get here and we all saw your truck drive by but you didn´t stop and…”

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you, I just got caught up in the rain and other things. Give me twenty-minutes, I´ll be there soon.”

“Conner…”

“It´s all right. Please tell me you had dinner already, I didn’t meant to make you guys wait.”

Clark sighed. “Of course we haven´t eaten. Ma made your favorite and you know Cassie and Bart are here and… Conner, it´s your birthday, don´t kill our spirits like this!”

Oh. Right. There was that. He had sort of forgotten that little detail about today.

He started feeling guilty as soon as he remembered, and Cassie´s calls made a lot more sense now. Ma´s calls made a ton more sense now.

Conner froze for a few seconds, then lit the firewood and reached for his phone. “Clark, look, there´s an unexpected guest here with me. We´ll be there in twenty minutes, I promise, we just can´t leave right now. We´ll be there soon, I promise.”

Clark was silent for a little while. “Had you forgotten your own birthday?”

Conner didn’t reply.

Clark burst out laughing. “Okay, all right, all right, that´s much more believable and acceptable than you ignoring us. Mom and Bart are still trying to figure out the whole thing with Cassie´s puzzle. Twenty minutes, not one more, you hear me? And I guess we better put another plate on the table. I sort of have a guest over, you know?”

Conner raised both eyebrows. “Yes to the extra plate please, and do you? A friend?”

“You could say that. What about your guest, another friend?”

“You could say that,” he echoed.

Clark snorted. “Fine, see you then. _Real soon_ , Conner.”

“Yeah.”

Conner stayed where he was for a couple of minutes after Clark hung up, staring at the flames and then at his humid t-shirt. He sort of needed to change his clothes and dry his hair.

By the time Dixie wandered back out into the living room clad in her blue sweatshirt, jeans and boots – and the vest she had asked Conner of she could borrow, and wasn’t Conner´s evening turning into a rom com cliché… not that he minded – he had also changed into a fresh sweatshirt and Timberlands. He had also tried to comb his hair.

Dixie giggled when she saw him fighting with a rebel lock of hair. “Um, should I try and find something fancier before we head off to…?”

“No,” he replied right away, then looked down, kept his eyes there. “No, you look gorgeous, it´s just… uh, I forgot to mention today was my birthday… well, I forgot it overall and I forgot to tell you and I also forgot Ma insists on doing special dinners and…”

Dixie gasped, covered her mouth with her hands, then gave him a look. “And we´re still here? Conner, that´s kind of rude. Come on!” And then it was her the one taking his hand and pulling him across the living room and out the door, Krypto on their heels, and then Conner was screaming something about no need to hurry and Dixie scolding him for not telling her before and Krypto barking and pulling up ahead of them because… he was Krypto.

Conner was gasping as they climbed up the stairs to the main farmhouse, and Dixie was laughing, turning to look at him with beautiful and shiny eyes.

“I´ll get you a good gift as soon as I can, but for now… Happy birthday, Conner Kent!” she cried, and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

Needless to say, when the front door opened to cast not only Dixie hugging him but also Conner, albeit inexplicably because Conner didn’t usually do hugs with anyone but Ma and Krypto, hugging her back, and burying his nose in her hair, there were some very loud gasps, though not as loud as the deep and strangled sound that was followed by a very outraged, “ _Rachel Grayson-Wayne, what the heck do you think you´re doing?!_ ”

Bart wouldn’t shut up about the magic and accuracy of fate and destiny after that, and as Dixie ran over to who Conner assumed was the guest Clark had brought and called him Bruce and everything sort of fell into place by itself, Conner couldn’t really contradict him.

 

* * *

 

 

Martha was rocking back and forth in her chair when Jon brought her the cup of tea and sat on his couch next to her.

“This turned out to be one of the best birthday dinners we´ve ever had, whether it was Clark or Conner´s,” Jon said with a soft smile and a sigh as he sipped on his own cup of coffee.

Martha glanced around the living room and into the kitchen. Cassie and Bart had left about an hour ago. Clark and his new grumpy friend were drying the dishes, Conner and his new friend were across the living room huddled around the coffee table and finishing up the forsaken puzzle Cassie had brought with her on the afternoon. Martha could hear Clark talking, water splashing and grunts from Bruce that seemed to hide words. She could also hear Dixie´s voice over Conner´s gentle and scarce mumbles.

Dinner had gone somewhat like that, Clark, Bart, Cassie, Martha and Dixie chatting all throughout the food while Jon, Bruce and Conner focused on eating. Martha had heard from Clark the whole plane incident before Dixie arrived, but she got a more detailed version from the young woman. She asked a lot of questions, Clark did too, and Dixie answered. Martha learned about Bruce being the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, and of that she had heard. She learned about the new offices to be built in Smallville and that that was the reason as to why Bruce had flown out all the way there from Gotham. She had assumed Dixie was there because she worked with her father in the company, but much to her pleasant surprise – and Conner´s, she hadn’t missed her youngest son´s reaction – Dixie wasn’t there for work but to look for a job outside Wayne E and a place to live.

“She´s not a big fan of city life,” Bruce had said, and it´d been one of the only things he´d said all throughout dinner. Martha had noticed the way Clark seemed to focus and even cherish what the man said. “She really likes the countryside and… well, places like this.”

“And where do you plan to work? What do you plan to do?” Conner had asked with more curiosity than Martha had ever seen.

Dixie had grinned at him, and again, Martha hadn’t missed Conner´s small smile and the way he seemed to lean in closer to her. “I don’t know yet, but I´ll figure it out.”

“She´s not a big fan of making plans either,” Bruce had muttered.

“And that gave him somewhat of a headache when I was on my senior year in high school,” Dixie had said amused.

Bruce had groaned, and Cassie and Conner were asking Dixie more questions as Clark burst out laughing and shared some private jokes and conversation with Bruce while all the others kept talking.

It had been a lot of fun for her, Martha admitted as she took another sip. She had even gotten a picture of Conner blowing out the candles on her pie and then Clark cutting out the cake. Bruce and Clark had served the cake. Conner and Dixie had eaten a piece each and then shared a third one, which had been an actual shock for everyone given Conner did not share his food. Ever.

Martha laughed to herself and tilted her head back. It had been a fun and quite eye-opening evening, especially after Clark had to hold Bruce back when Dixie told them about what had happened at the airport to keep him from probably hiring a hit man to kill the man that had tried to harm his daughter.

“Are you falling asleep or are you thinking about everything we saw tonight?” Jon´s voice broke her train of thought, and she turned her head to smile at him, then straightened in her chair.

“I think it´s a little bit of both. So you noticed as well?”

“That both our boys seemed to have been struck by Cupid on the same day? Yes, I noticed. It baffles me, but I know my boys too well to ignore what happened here tonight,” Jon said.

Martha let out a soft laugh, reached for his hand. “I´m surprised as well, but not displeased. Clark and Lois broke up… what? Two years ago. He hasn’t been this cheerful since those days. Conner hasn’t even looked at anyone since Megan, and that was his freshman year of high school.”

“He does seem to have a type, doesn´t he? Conner, I mean.”

“Bubbly, bouncy, adorable and the type of girl that likes to hug?” Martha laughed again. “I guess he does. Dixie is a sweetheart. I think he´d actually like her hugs a lot. Bruce doesn’t seem the type to hug, though.”

“I like Bruce,” Jon put in.

“Of course you would,” Martha said, shaking her head. “But I like him too, even though he didn’t say much… ah, I see why you like him.”

Jon chuckled.

Martha just took another sip of her tea. “This is almost unbelievable. Do you think it´s some sort of birthday magic? Both our boys come home with some mysterious and very nice guests on the same day and we all have a nice dinner?”

“It could be birthday magic,” Jon said with a shrug.

Martha tilted her head back again, closed her eyes for a moment. She focused on the sounds from the kitchen and across the living room. She heard Bruce actually forming sentences, then Clark´s laugh ringing loud and clear all the way to where she was. She then focused on Dixie´s cheerful and energetic tone, Conner´s now increasing mumbles and laughs she didn’t get to hear all that often.

She opened her eyes, smiled. “Birthday magic, huh,” she echoed.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it to this point, I have nothing to say but thank you so much for giving this fic, storyline and especially Dixie a chance. I hope you liked her and that she still felt like Dick Grayson, and that you enjoyed the story overall. Thanks so much for reading!


End file.
